Iwi are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, iwi roughly means 'people' or 'nation', and is often translated as "tribe," or "a confederation of tribes." The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English.
Moana Jackson was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. He was an advocate and activist for Māori rights, arguing that the New Zealand criminal justice system was discriminatory and leading work on constitutional reforms. In 1987 he co-founded Ngā Kaiwhakamarama i Ngā Ture. He also supported the rights of indigenous people internationally – for example, through leading the working group that drafted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and sitting as a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights in the 1990s.
Te Kumeroa "Ngoingoi" Pēwhairangi was a prominent teacher of, and advocate for, Māori language and culture, and the composer of many songs, including Poi E. She spearheaded the Māori Renaissance in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Hone Vivian Kouka is a New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain. Kouka's plays have won multiple awards at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, the 'Oscars' of New Zealand theatre. Kouka has also worked as a theatre director and producer. In 2009, Kouka was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to contemporary Māori theatre.
Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi is a New Zealand advocate of Māori language education and the Kōhanga Reo movement.
James Te Wharehuia Milroy was a New Zealand academic and expert in the Māori language. He was of Ngāi Tūhoe descent. Together with Tīmoti Kāretu and Pou Temara, Milroy was a lecturer at Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, which the three professors founded in 2004.
Dame Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira was a New Zealand Māori language proponent, educator, intellectual, artist and writer. Her efforts to revive and revitalise the Māori language led to the growth of Kura Kaupapa Māori in New Zealand.
Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith, previously a professor of indigenous education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, is now Distinguished Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Smith's academic contribution is about decolonising knowledge and systems. The Royal Society Te Apārangi describes Smith’s influence on education as creating "intellectual spaces for students and researchers to embrace their identities and transcend dominant narratives".
Sir William Te Rangiua "Pou" Temara is a New Zealand academic. He is professor of Māori language and tikanga Māori (practices) at Waikato University and a cultural authority on whaikōrero (oratory), whakapapa (genealogy) and karakia. Prior to working at Waikato, he taught at Victoria University of Wellington, where he also studied, and at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
Graham Hingangaroa Smith is a New Zealand Māori academic and educationalist of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Te Whakaruruhau o Ngā Reo Irirangi Māori is a New Zealand radio network consisting of radio stations that serve the country's indigenous Māori population. Most stations receive contestable government funding from Te Māngai Pāho, the Māori Broadcast Funding Agency, to operate on behalf of affiliated iwi (tribes) or hapū (sub-tribes). Under their funding agreement, the stations must produce programmes in the Māori language, and must actively promote Māori culture.
The Te Waka Toi awards are the premier awards in the field of ngā toi Māori. They have been awarded by Creative New Zealand and predecessors since 1986. The awards recognise tohunga, artists and community leaders across all arts forms including visual and performing arts.
Hohi Ngapera Te Moana Keri Kaa was a New Zealand writer, educator, and advocate for the Māori language. She was of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent.
John Cornelius Moorfield, also known as Te Murumāra, was a New Zealand academic whose expertise was in the teaching of the Māori language. His work, including the publication of resources for learners of the language, contributed to the language's revitalisation.
Rangiānehu Mātāmua is a New Zealand indigenous studies and Māori cultural astronomy academic and is Professor of Mātauranga Māori at Massey University. He is the first Māori person to win a Prime Minister's Science Prize, is a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, and is the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on the public holiday Matariki. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2023.
Cathy Moana Dewes is a New Zealand Māori language advocate. She has been a leader in Māori language and education since the 1970s.
Rangimārie Te Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere was a New Zealand educationalist, spiritual leader, Māori language advocate, academic and conservationist. Of Māori descent, she affiliated with the iwi Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani and Ngāti Kahungunu. Her influences spread throughout New Zealand in education and well-being and she was renowned on the international stage as an expert in indigenous knowledge.
Dame Hinewehi Mohi is a New Zealand musician and producer, best known for her double-platinum album Oceania (1999) and its lead single "Kotahitanga (Union)", performing the New Zealand National Anthem in Māori during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, and as a producer for the 2019 Māori language compilation album Waiata / Anthems.
Te Ao Mārama is the third extended play by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 9 September 2021, through Universal Music New Zealand. It consists of performances of five songs from Lorde's third studio album, Solar Power, in the Māori language.
Pānia Christine Papa is a former netball player who played on two occasions for the New Zealand national netball team. She is now an advocate for the preservation of te reo Māori, the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. In this capacity, she has been a frequent presenter on Māori Television, a writer and translator of books, particularly for children, and a university lecturer.
